Admirals Fall to Bears 3-2

HERSHEY, Penn. – Matt Fornataro and Troy Milam helped the Admirals erase a 2-0 deficit. However, Mathieu Perrault scored with 2:52 remaining in regulation as the Norfolk Admirals (31-19-8-5) fell to the Hershey Bears (39-20-1-3), 3-2, on Saturday night at Giant Center. The Admirals will wrap up a three-game road trip tomorrow evening against the Binghamton Senators at 5:05.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie had a pair of assists for Norfolk. Dustin Tokarski stopped 32 of 35 shots as his undefeated streak ended at seven games (5-0-2).

The Bears went ahead 2-0 after one period on a pair of Brian Willsie goals. Willsie scored shorthanded 4:26 into the contest and then converted a Kyle Greentree feed at 16:39.

Norfolk cut its deficit to 2-1 early in the second stanza on Fornataro’s sixteenth goal of the season. Labrie sent a shot on net from the bottom of the right circle that Bears goaltender Nolan Schaefer got a piece of. However, Fornataro batted the deflected shot past the goaltender’s right leg at 4:24.

The Admirals tied the game at 2-2 in the final minute of the second period on Milam’s twelfth goal of the season. He sent a shot from the right circle that glanced off the post behind Schaefer’s left shoulder and then caromed into the top corner of the net behind Schaefer’s right shoulder at 19:46.

The Bears re-claimed the lead with 2:52 remaining in regulation. Willsie sent a pass from the left half wall to Perrault in the slot. Perrault sent a wrist shot between the legs of Tokarski for a 3-2 Hershey lead.

The Admirals will wrap up a three-game road trip tomorrow evening against the Binghamton Senators at 5:05. Follow all of the action at 102.1-FM and 1490-AM The Game, 1021TheGame.com and ahllive.com.

The Admirals return to Scope on Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m. to battle the Binghamton Senators in another Admirals Value Night, featuring Admirals Family Fun Packs and Student Rush Nights. Family Fun Packs, presented by SunTrust, include four discounted Red Level Tickets for just $48 plus four free hot dogs, four free popcorns and four free sodas. Fans get all of that for just $48 – that’s a savings of $37!

Student Rush Nights provide $8 White Level Tickets (normally $12) for students with a valid current high school or college ID. In addition, when you buy a Student Rush Night Ticket, you get a buy-one, get-one free offer for the next Student Rush Night.

Family Fun Packs are available at the Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com. Family Fun Packs must be purchased prior to the day of the game. Student Rush Night Tickets are available ONLY at the Scope Box Office after 2:00 p.m. on the day of the game.

Individual tickets for all regular season games start at just $12. Tickets are available now at the Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com.

Season tickets for the 2011-12 season are now available! Low monthly payments available for a limited time only. Stop by the Admirals’ Administrative Offices at Scope, call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit norfolkadmirals.com anytime for more details or to purchase your tickets!

NOTES … The Admirals saw their streak of consecutive games registering at least one point in the standings ended at six games (4-0-0-2) … Norfolk (31-18-8-5, 73 points) remains four points ahead the idle Binghamton Senators (32-22-3-4, 71 points) for fourth place in the AHL’s East Division and one point behind the third-place Charlotte Checkers (34-22-2-6, 76 points), who fell at Worcester tonight 2-0 … Tokarski’s seven-game unbeaten streak was one shy of the Norfolk franchise-record eight-game unbeaten streak, held by three different goalies (Corey Crawford, Craig Anderson and Michael Leighton) … Troy Milam tied his AHL career high with his twelfth goal of the season (2007-08, Manchester) … Scratches: Kevin Quick, Mathieu Roy, Mitch Fritz, Cedrick Desjardins.